King of the Frozen Wastes Faces the Regent of the Dead Forest
A purple robed man traveled across the tundra, trudging through the endless sea of snow, groaning as he did so. "Friggin hell. So this is what it was like for Carwen? Must say that I do not envy her." he spoke. His Ivory white rapier dangling at his side, he continued his march, his neclace freezing his skin where it touched. The man saw a a tree further forward and decided that it would be a most excellent place to scout the area. He climbed it's tops, taking in the landscape. It was quite the sight. Rather beautiful for being a wasteland, despite his distaste for the winter seasons and just about anything related to it. "Now to find the bastard..." Before the man laid the frozen tundra. Ordinarily a blizzard obscured it from vision, but in the summer months it was visible, plain as day: the Grand Tundra guild hall, guarded by the enormous ice gates created by the man who founded the guild. As the man layed eyes upon the grand guild hall, a toothy grin spread across his features. Finally had he found his destination. "You'd think that a construction that large would have been easier to find." he spoke to himself, his voice deep, but also a bit shaky from the cold. Not feeling quite up for walking or running to his destination, he took the second route. Through the air. He layed his right hand upon the tree on which's branch he was standing upon, and as he did, the treee began to bend. Lower and lower it went until the top was almost touching the very ground itself. Then, he ceased his treatment to the tree, which suddenly hard him hurtling through the air until he landed surprisingly deftly on the ground in front of the gates. "Now... To knock... or to blow up?" Before the man could do anything, the doors began to open. Out walked a giant, so tall that he almost stepped on the man upon exiting the guild hall. "Oh pardon me," he said in a booming voice, deepened by his size. "Are you here to join my guild? We're recruiting new members." The purple robed man eyed the giant up and down many times over as he took him in in all of his greatness. The man cocked his head to the side, his long chromatic dreadlocks dangling along. "Cow or mammoth?" he simply asked curiously. "What?" asked Hyperborean. Seeing it as another common jab at his immense size, he began to laugh, his voice causing the area around to shake. "You're a funny one!" The man shrugged. "I do my best." He spoke as he unceremoniously stepped through the gates and took a closer look at the colossal hall. "Oh mi oh my, This is quite the guild you have here. I'm impressed. Most dark guilds are not able to afford such luxury that you have here. Maybe my own guild will have a hall like this in the future. Once I've built up a reputation of course." "You have a guild of your own huh?" said Hyperborean. "I guess that means you're not here to join me. And those that wish to join the Bellona Alliance are supposed to speak with Cronus. Which must mean you were sent here to eliminate me. I guess those people forgot to tell you that I'm a giant!" Hyperborean lifted up his foot, and aimed to crush the man under his boot. The man sidestepped the falling foot and reposturing himself "They forgot to make mention of tht rather large detail, yes. Anyway, sir, i think we have gotten off on the wrong foot." He spoke as he glanced towards teh spot where he once stood, a colossal foot in it's place. He looked back up. "My name Is Hotoke Perzsike and I am here to offer a way out. You can not win a conflict agains the council and the guilds that are sure to join in on the battle to come. I'll admit, I was sent here to take you down, but seeing you now, it would be quite the shame to do so. Leave this alliance and abandon this foolish endeavour and we can both walk out of this as happy men." "Leave the alliance?" asked Hyperborean with a haughty laugh. "Not possible. Othrys alone has already conquered Caelum! If I even attempted to leave the alliance, Cronus would destroy me. Besides, I have been promised what I've always desired. The destruction of the Sun Village! I am the exiled giant: Hyperborean!" The ground suddenly became much more slick, as Hyperborean froze it with his magic. Sliding behind Hotoke at a rapid pace, he immediately exhaled, not a magical blast, but enough to send a huge gust of wind in Hotoke's direction in order to blow him out of the guild hall, the ice giving him no traction. Hotoke began to glide towards the exit when his movements were suddenly halted as he reached downwards and thrust his hand through the floor, grabbing hold of it and therefore stopping his trajectory. "Sorry, but I won't be leaving quite so easily. Speaking of easy, this will not prove an easy victory for you. We have the means of battling the alliance's forces. By stying with them you will only promote more bloodbath. Let this end and come with me." he spoke firmly. "Talk all you like!" shouted Hyperborean. "Nothing will stop me from taking my revenge on the Sun Village!" He punched the ground, sending a gigantic shockwave of snow and ice towards Hotoke, encompassing the entirety of the opening of the door. "If that is your wish..." Hotoke stood firm as the incoming shockwave was heading his way. In a mere instant, Hotoke's body, turned a bright scarlet, as did his clothes, his pores oozing with red liquids. "Then I must crush it. Blood Nova!" With a great blast, blood shot out of Hotoke's body in every direction. While not his most powerful spell, it was enough to stop the shockwave and ice. The walls were now coated in a mass of blood, and from those masses, orbs of blood, with a dark center took form. "Iron-Blood Shot!" he cried out once more, sending orbs in a barrage towards the Gigantic man. Hyperborean waved his hand in front of him, freezing the blood orbs. "You think you can take on me! The guild master of Grand Tundra! In my own element! You should know better than to fight a giant like me! Ice God's Bellow!" With the same cold as his previous attack, he fired a large blast of black snow and ice from his mouth. Due to his larger mouth, the attack was much larger than any other God's Bellow. If Hotoke tried to block with another blood attack, the ice would freeze over it, with the attack continuing on after the initial freezing, and continue past the frozen blood, shatter it, and continue on towards Hotoke. While the ors of blood may have been frozen solid, it did not change it's trajectory or speed of travel, thus resulting in them pummeling the sides of Hyberborean. However, due to that they froze, they had lost their leeching properties and due to their now frozen state, the giant would find that his natural resitance to all manners of icy natured attacks would protect him from the majority of the damage that the orbs ought to have caused. Figuring that this was not the kind of foe to take on lightly, Hotoke prepares himself for the worst. In a moments notice, his body began to shine with a bright green light. "Divine Roar of the Forest Dragon!" He cried out, sending out a colossal roar of enough magnitude and power to cancel out the bellow. "Hyperborean, this is idiotic! There's no way that you can win this in the end. if it isn't me it'll just be someone else!" Hyperborean laughed again. "You were lucky the blizzard wasn't going today. Under normal circumstances, people get lost in the storm, and they freeze to death. Out of all those that have come to take my head, and even join my guild, only ten percent have survived the ordeal. Five percent give up the hunt as well, and four percent join my guild. You're part of the rare one percent that comes to take my head, and they die as soon as they come here. I see you have a sword. Let's put your skills to the test. Ice God's Club!" he created a large club of black ice, and swung it downwards to crash Hotoke. Hotoke was quick to draw his Rapier out of it's sheath. Sword in hand, she enchanced the blade with divine forest energies and thrust it upwards to counter the Club's blow. As the two made impact, the club shattered along it's frame, rendering it near useless for a second attack. Meanwhile, the rapier which had blocked the blow remained unharmed and Hotoke, miraculously still standing strong and firm, grinned up at the giant. "Want to try again?" As the ice began to fall around Hotoke, Hyperborean held out his hand, and made a claw motion with it. Suddenly all the shards surrounding him transformed into ice needles, each one aiming to impale him from every direction, and still imbued with Hyperborean's Ice God Slayer Magic. With barely a second to spare, Hotoke conjured up leafs infused with divine light in his hands. When the leafs were prepared, he thrust forward, sending an nova of razor sharp divine leafs in a near omnidirectional attack, guided by him to shred the spikes if ice into pieces, some of which also proceeded to make their way towards Hyerborean. However, there were a collection of them from straight behind him which remained untouched. He spun around and used his rapier to redirect and even destroy a good deal of them. Sadly, one remained which he was not quick enough to grasp, a spike which pierced straight through his heart. The burning cold feeling surged through him as the ice slowly began to spread through his body, causing him extraordinary agony. Hotoke fell down to his knee, gasping for air. Hyperborean waved his hand, generating a wave of snow that blew the leaves headed towards him off course. He walked up to Hotoke. "You should've known better than to come here. Ice God's Giant Hammer!" With the ice on his fist, he aimed to crush Hotoke with his gigantic fist. The ice was a safety precaution in case Hotoke wasn't as out of commission as he looked. "Divine Forest's Blaze Engine!" Hotoke cried out as two great propulsors appeared on his back, sending out wave after wave of divine forest evergy, crushing the hammer as it was heading towards him, rendering it and the remaining shards into nothing but fastly melting snow. Hotoke rose up and turned on the heel. "Sorry, mate." He spoke as he grabbed hold of the spike and tore it out of his body. "But it takes a little more than that to put me down." he said and with a wave of his hand, all the ice contaminated flesh and blood in his body was expelled. "Ancestor's Pumpkin Canon!" he cried out and in the palm of his hand, a pumpkin began to take form. This pumpkin was crackling with magic and dazzled with a green light. He conjured up a total of five of these and fired them off towards Hyperborean. Hyperborean fired another Ice God's Bellow, simultaneously freezing the pumpkins and blowing them back towards Hotoke. Slightly elevated above where the two masters were fighting, two mages sat above them. "Is the master fighting again?" asked Erik. "Yes," said Lionel. "Should we do something?" asked Erik. "No," said Lionel. "By the way, you're head's on fire." "Gah! What?!" exclaimed Erik, immediately patting his head and feeling the flames. "Crap! Not again!" With a slight movement of his hand, the five frozen pumpkins made impact around his feet. "You're quite something, Hyper. Too bad that you have found yourself on the losing side. You would have made a mighty ally. Alas, we both know that there can be only one survivor in this. So let's hurry this up, shall we? I wonder how you handle this: Roots of the Sacred Tree: Yggdrasil!" With those words, the very earth began to quake, the floor crack open. In an instant, colossal roots sprung up from the ground, whipping and cracking about like the tentacles of an octopus, breaking the surrounding hall. The roots grew as large and high as Hyperborean himself. The gigantic roots came crashing down upon him. "Trust me when I say that it is Ishgar that will lose this war," said Hyperborean, "it would be wise for you to switch sides instead!" His aura flared up, as the tree limbs made contact with his body, they instantly froze, and cracked, and shattered on the ground. "There was a reason I wanted to take this outside. You're ruining my precious guild hall! Ice God's Blizzard!" He fired a large stream of snow and ice, generating white out conditions to anyone stuck in ice. It would freeze over anything stuck in its path. This spell was more like wind than ice, and would continuously move over whatever Hyperborean wanted. Hyperborean literally wanted to freeze Hotoke in his tracks. The white blizzard kept evrything out of view for Hotoke, barely aware of his surroundings. Hyperborean gazed into the icy winds, his eyes focused upon the slowly kneeling man before him. The weak hint of breath coming from his gasping mouth, growing weaker and weaker, hinted towards a lowered body temperature. The battles seemed all but won. Then a light appeared around Hotoke for one brief moment. The warm breath returned with an unseen intensity. With his head still lowered, Hotoke jumped forward fist reeled back and ready to strike. The punch was coming nearly too fast to keep up with, yet a tint of rose could be spotted as it traveled. He knew that he had no chance of dodging this strike. He froze his arms in incredibly dense Ice God Slayer ice, and crossed them in front of him. His giant's durability combined with the ice surely would've been enough to block a strike of this magnitude. Hotoke crashed into him, sending Hyperborean skidding backwards, grunting at the unexpected difficulty of blocking this strike. The ice began to crack from the pressure, it seemed as though his defense would be destroyed, but Hyperborean's retreat slowed. Ice began creeping from his body, aiming to freeze Hotoke from the inside out. Even still, a bruise had appeared on his arm, and the ice had nearly been destroyed. "How could a lowly Dragon Slayer house this much power?" The ice from Hyperborean began to creep up along Hotoke's scaly, clawed arm, but that was as far as it extended. "Have you forgotten, dear friend? Your lowly magic ain't shit compared to a dragon." He spoke with a giggle. "With a flex of his muscles, the ice shattered away from them, the cold leaving his body at a quicker pace tahn it could infect. "Divine Forest Dragon's Hatchet!". His left and unoccupied hand took the shape of a wooden axe, crackling and dazzlng with "divine" energies, a scaly pattern along it's sides. He brough his axe-hand down with the intent of maiming the giant. "You dare compare your lowly magic to that of a god!" The hatchet sunk into Hyperborean's arm, but it was stopped before it could sink in too deeply. The thickness of his Giant muscles had served him well. With Hotoke still locked in place due to his latest attack, Hyperborean used his other hand, aiming to slam him into the ground with an open palm thrust, and would follow up immediately with a kick from his Giant foot. Hotoke was slammed to the ground with a heavy thud, and then the kick came which sent him hurtling out the guild's doors, crashing into the frozen gate. Hotoke was like nailed to the gate, like an unfortunate bug on the wind shield of a car. He gazed towards the spot where Hyperborean stood, and while he could not see the giant, he knew that the giant could see him. "Oh? The magic of a god?" He spoke as he thrust himself away from the crater on the gate. "You must be quite delusional if you believe this magic to be the work of gods. Your magic was made by man. No man can slay the dragon." he spoke, and with those words, that rosey tint spread across his body until they took form in the shape of petal-like scales across his face and whole body. "Divine Roar of the Forest Dragon!" he cried out, and from his gaping mouth came a beam of concentrated power, so vast that it would threaten to tear up a a good chunk of the guild hall if it was not intercepted. Hyperborean was fuming. His aura began to swell again as Hotoke powered up. "I'll show you my superiority!" He shouted as he placed his hands together. The temperature seemed to instantly drop as he powered up his next spell. "God Slayer's Secret Art!" He fired a linear version of his most powerful spell at the same time as Hotoke. "Casket of Ancient Winters!" The two spells collided, generating a powerful explosion, the shockwave sending Lionel and Erik flying backwards despite them being high in their perch. As the two continued in a power struggle, Hyperborean's spell threatened to freeze over Hotoke's. Simultaneously snow began to fill up the room, generating white out conditions. This was the secondary effect of the spell. The snow simultaneously would cause whoever was stuck in the snowstorm to feel immense cold. As the snow obscured his vision, Hotoke would not be able to directly see how his Roar matched up against Hyperborean's Secret Art. Hotoke maintained his focus on the struggle of of power between the two spells. However, his roar would soon proceed to fade as he could not maintain it for too long. So he decided to tip the scales into his favor. His arms became coated in chromatic petals, color shifting and dazzling with green divine light. Without uttering the name, he waved his arms forward, sending the bursts of petals forward. Any shard of ice that it made contact with was shredded to bits as they traveled towards their target: Hyperborean. If he let go of the power struggle between the roar and the casket, the roar would make tremendous damage to not only him but the guild as well as the casket did little to affect the roar's potency. But if he maintained the strugge with the roar, the petals would do even more to his frame. Suddenly, from the ice on the ground and walls, it formed a protective wall around him, blocking the assault of the petals through constant absorption of more ice from the area around him. Hyperborean began laughing to himself, still very involved in his power struggle. "How could I forget? I have control over the ice in guild hall, I created it after all!" He continued to poor on the power of his attack, still aiming to overpower Hotoke's Roar. Hotoke could feel the power in his roar fading and the secret art began to win ground. Without a second of a doubt, Hotoke decided to make a sacrifice for the better. He let go of his roar, letting the art hammer it's way against Hotoke's frame, battering his body with powerful icicles. Hotoke was thrown backwards, but not a single bit of ice succeded in piercing his scaly form. Still being hammered, Hotoke slightly looked up towards Hyperborean's general direction and spoke: "Is this it? Is this all you have to conjure, Hyper?" The icicles continued to bombard him, but then, they began to stick to his body. Hyperborean manipulated the icicles so that they would freeze over his body. "All you have are quips. You haven't come to terms with the fact that you're going to die here." Hotoke felt the ice begining to cling to his frame, attempting to freeze him into an icicle. "Meh, I don't feel like dying yet. But just to keep it fair, I'll give you the honest chance to bring me to it." He spoke as he remained standing in place, the scales on his body growing thicker and thicker by the second. He slid on the ground, using the ice on the floor to compensate for his overall lack of speed. "Ice Giant's Giant Hammer!" He aimed a high velocity punch at Hotoke, his fist encompassing his entire body as the blow landed directly onto his body, as Hyperborean aimed to completely crush him. Hotoke was hammered into the ground, his fram completely burried beneath the colossal fist and frozen dirt. The iced fist remained over his body for a while, trying to ensure that there was no movement or life beneath it. Hyperborean was just moments away from removing his fist from the shattered ground, when a deep rumbling sound could be heard from below. "I gave you a chance and y'ou blew it. Prepare to face a dragon's retribution!'" The earth crumbled as Hyperborean would suddenly find his fist as if blown from the grounds, sending him stumbling backwards. On the spot where Hotoke stood, now stood a draconian monstrosity. Hands and feet like claws, great scaly wings on his back and a dragon for a head. Half human and half dragon as his appearance would speak. "I grow stronger by each passing moment and soon... I won't require magic to best you." he spoke as he charged forth, his hands turning into dazzling green hammers, ready to strike at Hyper with strength which barely he would be able to muster. Hyperborean utilized the iced floor to his advantage again. He slid to the side in order to avoid his strike, and aimed another open-palmed strike towards his side. This time, rather than going for blunt damage, he also covered his hands in numerous spikes of ice, as well as covering the wall to his side, the one he would hit if Hotoke was unable to avoid the strike, aiming to impale him with those spikes as well. "Talk is cheap." He said just before he unleashed his strike. Hotoke forced his feett through the floor, halting his approach and turned to the giant. He made a swift arc with his hammer shaped hand, utilizing one of the hammers to shatter the spikes of ice along his arm and used teh other to block the attack. The ground beneath him gave way but he stood firm. "So is your magic." he rumbled. With Hotoke still in contact with his open palm, he immediately closed his hand, attempting to crush the man between his massive hand. "I don't need magic to crush you either!" Hotoke enveloped himself in his wings, offering him absolute protection from Hyperborean's crushing grip. It was like how it is for an ordinary man to crush a small pebble in the palm of his hand. An impossible feat. "Scales of the Divine Forest Dragon." he muttered, his body becoming covered in glowing wooden scales. Ice crept from Hyperborean's body onto the scales. The ice would serve to make them more brittle, and easier to crush. His grip on Hotoke only increased, as he used more and more of his strength in order to crush Hotoke. Hotoke could feel the ice creeping along his wooden scales, yet he remained unaffected by them due to the "divinely" imbued nature of the scales. Hotoke utilized his wings on his back to pry slightly pry open the giant's fist, opening up for his face to bare itself to the giant's palm. He breathed in deeply, gathering divine forest energies in his gut. "Roar of the Divine Forest Dragon!" he bellowed. Before he could fire off his Roar, Hyperborean aimed to slam him into the ground. Hotoke was strong, but not heavy. "Ice God's Giant Hammer!" He called as he used the augmentation from the spell to increase his striking power. However, he had not been quite fast enough, and a portion of the beam struck him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards and release Hotoke from his grasp after the completion of his assault. Hotoke rolled and tumbled along the floor, digging his clawed hands and feet deep into the ground, carving up a way as he slided. He pushed himself back up on his feet as divine vines began to crawl along his arms. "Divine Forest Dragon's Pepper Vines!" He cried out as he forced his hands through the ground, the earth rumbling as he did so. And there he held fast, standing still, hands burried beneath the ground, patiently waiting for Hyperborean's next move. Hyperborean touched his hand to the ground. Icicles sprouted out of the ground in order to cut through the vines. Even if the divine light prevented them from being frozen, the ice was still incredibly dense, imbued with the power of a God Slayer, and could still cut through trees as tough as those on Tenrou Island. Afterwards, the ground below shattered, which would take away all of Hotoke's footing if he remained on the ground. Hyperborean was also prepared for him to jump, aiming to smack him out of the air with a backhanded slap from his giant hand. Hotoke jumped high into the air as to avoid the crumbling ground, confused as to why he would spawn spikes out of the ground when it was clear that the vines were submerged, but it only served in his favor. As he jumped up, a great big hand came towards him. Hotoke made a flap with his wings and went of a punch of his own, slamming his fist into the back hand of the giant, pushing it away from him. As this was happening, the vines which were burried beneath the earth emerged and surrounded Hyperborean's area, letting off a great explosion of tremendous proportions. Hyperborean didn't budge as Hotoke through his punch. Hyperborean's immense strength was more than enough to match Hotoke's power. He was surprised by the explosion, but as the dust cleared, Hyperborean was still unharmed. He had covered his body in a layer of his ice, which had cracked and broken off after the completion of the spell. As Hotoke had no leverage, as he was in midair, Hyperborean continued adding in more force behind his strike, aiming to slam him into the ground, which would then immediately sprout spikes from it to impale his adversary. The Divine Scales protected Hotoke from the sharpness and impact from the slam and spikes, shrugging it off as he stood up and threw a rapid barrage of punches against Hyperborean's palm. With such powerful and quick strikes, it could threaten to cause a fracture in his hand if he did not shy back. Hyperborean once again covered his hand in ice. It helped protect against the first volley of punches, but he knew they wouldn't hold for long. Hyperborean used his free hand, creating a beam of ice from the ground where Hotoke was standing. It rose at an incredible speed, aiming to slam Hotoke into the, now spiked, ceiling. Preparing for him to jul out, in case he was just fast enough, Hyperborean once again created an Ice God's Club, and aimed to bludgeon him with the incredibly dense weapon. The width was larger than the entirety of Hotoke's body, and the force would certainly shatter bones. Hotoke growled as he was flung into the ceiling, once again near unaffected by the spiked that was constantly thrown his way. As the frozen fist was coming his way, Hotoke let out a colossal roar as hthe scales on his body thickened, as did his muscle mass. He brought his two hands together and went in for a unified punch. The strike was powerful enough to shatter the ice and then hold Hyper in a stand still. Hotoke grinned. "I told you. Soon I won't even need magic to win." Hyperborean was seething with rage. But then, his anger subsided. "Prove it then. We've wrecked my guild hall enough. From now on this will be a contest of strength! No magic allowed!" "Certainly. Just let me finish up here first. DRACO SURGE!" Hotoke growled as his body began to thicken once more, but this time it even began to twist and turn, forcing him down on all fours as his frame began to shift. His form was no longer that of a half human, but rather that of a full and complete dragon. He quickly grew in size within the halls until the point where he was of equal size to Hyperborean, but something told the giant that this was not his full form. He was too small for that. "My name is Fafnir! Heed my voice and despair!" He roared as he thrust himself down towards the floor once more shaking the ground as he landed. Hotoke raised his paw and went for a swift blow with it against Hyperborean's head. Hyperborean was ready. He grabbed Hotoke's arm as it came down, and flipped him over his own massive body, using the momentum of Hotoke's attack to execute the maneuver. "Please, is that all you've got? I want more!" Hyperborean grabbed a pillar from the guild hall, and used it as a baseball bat as he aimed to into the side of Hotoke's face. Hotoke spun around and swiftly grabbed hold of the pillar. As he held it he clenched his claw, crushing the pillar effortlessly. Hotoke then went on to dashing forward in a full bodied tackle. Hyperborean held out his hands in front of him, and caught Hotoke's tackle. His muscles bulged as he tried harder to stop his attack, sliding across the ground. Soon, Hotoke's tackle had been successfully stopped. Hotoke took the closed distance between them to his advantage. He made a sweep with his tail in order to attempt and cause Hyperborean to tumble and fall over. Wether this would be a successful attempt would matter little as Hotoke also grabbed hold of Hyperborean's sides and went for a great bite against his shoulder, his jaws open wide, revealing his extremely sharp and serrated teeth. Hyperborean allowed the tail sweep to cause him to gal backwards, utilizing the new momentum to his advantage. As Hotoke lunged at him with his bared teeth, he fell backwards, and placed his foot on him in order to flip Hotoke over him, using the force to hopefully send him a fair distance away. Hotoke spread his wings out wide and stiffened them, halting his trajectory. He forced his claws down into the frozen and cracked earth to gain stability. He then used his wings to give a powerful flap which sent him hurtling towards Hyperborean once more. Hyperborean didn't falter. He aimed a powerful punch towards Hotoke's face, sacrificing defense for the sheer power behind this punch. Although Hotoke could get his own attack in if he managed to sustain damage from the punch, Hyperborean didn't care. He wanted to prove that the might of a God Slayer was absolute. "They're still going at it," said Erik. "I know," said Lionel. "This guy's really giving master Hyperborean a run for his money." "I've never seen him sweat like this before. Normally his physical strength is unrivaled. No human has ever matched him power before." "Well that's the thing Erik. That's not a human anymore. That's a Dragon." Hotoke did not waver. He took the the blow to his maw in full force. The punch sent Hotoke spinning slightly, his head bashed to the side but the rest of his body and tail crashed in to Hyper with more force than the fist that he had just delivered to him. His tackle knocked Hyper over and caused Hotoke to continue to tumble away from him, sliding across the crumbing floor. Once he had stopped he slowly began to rise up once more. "Heh, gotta admit, I felt that one." After Hyperborean recovered, he arose to his feet as well. "As did I. You truly are a worthy adversary Dragon Slayer. It's been some time since I last felt this much exhilaration in battle. Come Hotoke Perzsike! I wouldn't want this fight to be over yet! Neither of us have had our fill yet. This I can tell." Hotoke Slowly began to approach Hyperborean, step by step, slowly making his way towards him and then halting midway. "I believed God Slayers to be a lesser kind. Nothing more than a bunch of uninspired copycats. That opinion has not changed much, but it pleases me to see that there are those out there of talent with it. But the question still remains." Hotoke said as he crouched down, bracing himself for whatever may come his way. "Which slayer is trully the greatest?" "To be fair," began Hyperborean, "you may have crushed an ordinary Ice God Slayer by now. My power is far greater than an ordinary Ice God Slayer however. After all, I'm a Giant. But in this case, I still believe myself to be superior." He punched the ground, using merely his physical strength, it immediately cracked beneath his might, sending a shockwave of the broken frozen ground towards Hotoke, which would force him off the ground. At the same time, he threw a boulder-sized ball of ice that was on the ground at a support pillar in the guild hall. The column crumbled, and the roof of the area Hotoke was in crumbled underneath it in order to crush him. Hotoke stood fast, the impending shockwave and debris doing little to phase him. Then came the real issue of the situation. He heard the a crashing sound from beside him and when he looked up as cracking sounds could be heard, the roof suddenly came rashing down upon him. Hotoke remained still as he started to become buried beneath the debris. Hyperborean laughed. "Barried under rubble! Hah! This can't be the end of Hotoke Perzsike. Come on! Get up! We're not finished yet!" He egged him on. Hyperborean truly had not had this much fun in a long time. Within an instant, the pile of rubble rumbled and suddenly flew in every considerable direction at rapid speeds as the rosey dragon burst out of it, seething with raw, unadulterated power. "I grow tired of this farce." Hotoke spoke, mildly irritated. He slammed his mighty, clawed fist into the ground, sending a colossal tremor through the ground, something which threatened to shake half the guild hall into rubble. Hyperborean ran up to his adversary, jumping off the ground to avoid the tremor, and aimed a kick to the side of his head with enough force that it could take off a Giant's head. The entire weight of his body was behind the force of that attack, with the velocity of his body from falling (increased due to the sheer size of it) increasing the force even further. If Hyperborean kept his eyes focused, he would take notice of that Hotoke seemingly grew a bit further in sheer size. As the giant made his approach, Hotoke went in for a counter strike, a swipe of his paw, aimed staright at his kicking leg, hoping to take this chance of now dodging or escape to send him hurtling and cause some serious damage. The force of Hyperborean's kick was too great for him to be simply batted of course, but Hotoke was still able to match him in sheer force. Hyperborean landed on the ground and backed off, waiting for his opponent's next move. Hotoke began to slowly make his approach, not rushing in head first like previous times. This was no longer a battle between slayers only, this was a battle between two warriors, standing for a cause they believe in. This was his way of showing respect for his opponent, regardless of how little it meant to Hyperborean or to Hotoke. "You are not god yet. The moment that became clear, this fight was decided. But let it be known... I pray you will elevate to such heights one day. However, let it also be known, should you coninue on this path..." Hotoke paused his approach, now standing what felt like mere inches away from one another, facing each other down. "You won't live to let me see that day, Hyperborean." It seemed like an eternity before either of them did anything. "One punch. Full strength. Whoever gives out first loses this battle." He clenched his fist in preparation. Hotoke nodded. "It is decided then." he spoke, his voice rumbling, but with a severe lack of hostility. He raised his right claw and reered it back. The bystanders could see the muscles tensing up in the scaly limb, power building up, ready to unleash it all at a moments notice. He just wanted to see Hyperborean equally prepared. Hyperborean pulled back his fist, and preparing a punch of his own. All of his strength was being placed into this final attack, all of his remaining power. At the same time, he aimed the punch at Hotoke's face. Hotoke unleashed his own strike as well as soon as he saw the slightest movement from Hyperborean's tensed up arm. He aimed his own swipe to the side of Hyper's head, hoping that it will smack him down once and for all. He saw the punch coming his way. There was multiple ways for him to avoid it. Lowering his head, raising his wing, bring in his tail, what have you, but he decided against it. Man to man, the tow of them had agreed to finish this of in a a fair and honorable display of power. And so it would be. His claw swiped at equal speeds with Hyperborean, meaning that it is most likely that the two will collide with their intended targets simultaneously. The two strikes collided into each other's massive bodies. They seemed stuck, the few seconds they had struck each other seemed to stretch into an eternity. But then, Hyperborean fell back, his massive body shattering the earth below him. He laid on the ground, defeated, although not unconscious. He began laughing to himself. "So much fun. You, Dragon Slayer, have proved yourself to match the power of those that can slay Gods. I would like to fight you again, when I've achieved my own power of that magnitude." Hotoke reeled back ever so slightly, then proceeding to shake his head and body, similar to a wet dog, as if to shake the blow out of him. "A mighty strike. I almost dread to imagine what sort of power you would have had with magic behind that." he spoke. Hotoke approached once more, standing a short bit away from Hyperborean. "Do you admit defeat?" Hyperborean sighed in relief. "Yes." He said, not showing any signs of remorse or anger. Hotoke gazed around the ruined hall, taking in the full sight of what this giant and the restricted dragon could accomplish. "I told you that this would happen... It always happens. Man falls before the dragon..." He spoke, an almost solemn tone to his voice. "I'm almost suprised your comrades didn't come to save you." "You should know better Dragon Slayer," said Hyperborean. "If they had attempted to intervene, they would've died. I wouldn't have wanted them to anyways. Besides, I am no man, I'm a Giant, which is why I was so confident in my ability to defeat you. I now see why I was wrong." "Don't speak such words." Hotoke growled. "You are more man, a better man, than I've ever been or ever will be." As these words left his mouth, he turned around and began to make is way out, very slowly. Snow suddenly entered Hyperborean's mouth. He returned to his feet, nearly rejuvenated. "Master he is weak," said Lionel. "Now is your chance to destroy him." "No," said Hyperborean. "Let him leave." "But master..." began Erik. "Let him leave!" The two mages bowed to Hyperborean. "Yes master." Hotoke stoped right at the guild halls exit. Not turning around, he continued his speech. "I still believe that you are making a terrible mistake, Hyperborean. I hope that you will come to better senses. But just like me, I will allow you to make your own mistakes. Just promise me one thing when you do... When you fail, do not pull those loyal to you with you. Whatever you may have to do, keep them safe, as I seek to keep mine safe." And with that, he flapped his mighty wings as he began his journey back home. But then he suddenly stopped. He turned around as he remembered something. "I meant what I said, Hyperborean. There are dangers out there which no dragon or devil can ever hope to face. I pray that you will become strong... I might need you one day."